Short track speed skating in the 20th century
A very different form of speed skating was created in the United States and Canada. Short-track speed skating developed from speed skating events that were held with mass starts in the United States and Canada. In contrast with the by the ISU organized speed skating races, which were time trials on large skating tracks. Competitions in North America tended to be held indoors and therefore on shorter tracks than was usual for outdoor skating.
In 1967, the International Skating Union accepted short track speed skating as one of its skating disciplines but for the moment did not organize international competitions until 1976. The first Officially World Championships are held in 1981, though earlier championships were later also recognized as world championships.
Skaters perform pack races of 500, 1000, 1500, 3000 meters. In a series of races on each distance the first two in each race go to the next round till 8 finalists remain. In the super-final these eight competitors race with each other to get the highest position and the most points according to their ranking.
That these races can be very exiting can be seen in the following video of the 1000m races for men in 1992 at the Olympic championships for men..
In 1967, the International Skating Union accepted short track speed skating as one of its skating disciplines but for the moment did not organize international competitions until 1976. The first Officially World Championships are held in 1981, though earlier championships were later also recognized as world championships.
Skaters perform pack races of 500, 1000, 1500, 3000 meters. In a series of races on each distance the first two in each race go to the next round till 8 finalists remain. In the super-final these eight competitors race with each other to get the highest position and the most points according to their ranking.
That these races can be very exiting can be seen in the following video of the 1000m races for men in 1992 at the Olympic championships for men..
There is also a race for four teams of four skaters which follow each other up in the race like in a estafette in athletics. In this sport it is called a “relay”. How this works one can see very well in the following video of the same championship. Below is again a snapshot of the race.
At the videos we have presented above, it seems that longer people have a much smaller chance to win in these races than short people. Especially in the sharp curves length seems to be a disadvantage. The mobility of the skater is also very important in this sport. Without mobility and a good eye for opportunities one can’t pass other skaters. Skating on such a small track also increases the chance of a fall which normally would mean that one has no chance anymore to win. All these characteristics make this sport very different from long track speed skating where the speed and the endurance are the most important characteristics needed because one does not have to pass other skaters. These characteristics suggests that small slim people have a better chance to win than tall people. This is probably also the reason that in this sport people from other countries play a role than in long track speed skating
To determine the “over-all champion” over all distances during the World Championships the following procedure was used. Points are given for each placings in the finals of individual distances (currently 34 points for 1st, 21 for 2nd, 13 for 3rd, 8 for 4th, 5 for 5th, 3 for 6th, 2 for 7th, 1 for 8th). The athlete with the highest points after the points for all individual distances were added up (maximum of 136 points) was declared the Men's or Ladies' Overall World Short-track Speed Skating Champion. In case of a tie in points, precedence is given to the athlete with the higher placing in the 3000m super-final.
The table below shows for the world championships the overall winners over the period of 1976 toll 2000. This table shows without counting that in the beginning of these championships the Canadians were clearly the most successful participants. In 1984 the Japanese skaters started to get good results in the overall championship and from 1989 they were accompanied by the South Korean skaters. Only very occasionally skaters from other countries, especially west European countries could play a role in these championships.
Looking at the results for the female skaters who also had an overall rating of the skaters, one can see the same picture although the results for the South Korean skaters started a bit later and they were followed by Chinese skaters.
This global picture is also confirmed if we look at the total number of the world championships short track speed skating won by the different countries from 1976 to 2000. The table below shows very clearly the strength of the Canadian, the South Korean and the Japanese skaters compared with the results of all other countries.
This table shows also that in short track speed skating the best skaters came from very different countries than the skaters in the long track speed skating. Where in this sport Canada, South Correa and Japan are the top countries, these countries hardly played a role in the long track speed skating.
In a next story we will look at the performances of some of the best skaters in this sport: The Canadians Gaetan Boucher and Marc Gagnon and the Canadian skater:Sylvie Daigle and the Cinese skater Yang Yang A.
In a next story we will look at the performances of some of the best skaters in this sport: The Canadians Gaetan Boucher and Marc Gagnon and the Canadian skater:Sylvie Daigle and the Cinese skater Yang Yang A.